How Do You Prioritize The Qualities That Are Important When Buying A Handgun?
After having scanned the various responses, I decided to toss my thoughts on the fire just in case someone might find something worthwhile in the ensuing flames.
Something I didn’t see mentioned that for me is #1 on the list: Does it do the intended job? I like the “tool, not trophy” comment, and would enlarge that by saying that, as with any other tool purchase, I begin by carefully thinking about the job I need done, and what qualities a prospective tool must have in order to do that job well. With a handgun, caliber is at or near the top when considering suitability for a particular job. I wouldn’t go hog hunting with a Ruger Mk IV .22, and I wouldn’t take a youngster plinking with my Glock 20 10mm. Admittedly, there are other factors that affect the tool’s ability to perform the job, but caliber (likely within some range of options) is probably the most determinative factor. Capacity, for instance, affects suitability, even to the point of disqualifying some candidates, like a single-shot T/C, for jobs where at least something more than a single cartridge on board the firearm is deemed necessary. But that all said, we’ve got the first criterion. Does it do the job?
#2: Reliability. For some purchases, reliability becomes part of #1, above. My EDC choice at present is a Glock 43X. Reliability, expressed as Glock + trigger pull = bang, is tremendously important. To varying levels, the same can be said of other jobs I ask a gun to do. That hog hunter I mentioned above better be pretty reliable, too, for instance. And finally, there’s the simple fact that I really, really don’t like unreliable weaponry. Some of the bravest and craziest men ever were those who went to sea on US diesel subs in early WWII carrying torpedos that functioned properly about half the time. I don’t ever wanna have to hope that the tool will actually do its thing.
#3. Ergonomics. The gun has to fit the hand—re grip especially, but including things like trigger reach, mag release position, and more of the stuff that gets discussed ad nauseum.
#4. Commonality. By this I mean that the gun, and the ammo it uses, are common enough that access to parts, service, and more ammo are never an issue. Unless the actual job being performed is that of developing/testing new ideas/technologies, I don’t wanna have the latest and wanna-be-greatest thing in my hand or holster.
#5. Capacity. Number of rounds in the magazine isn’t unimportant, but it doesn’t vault ahead of other characteristics just to have more cartridges actually inside the machinery. Beyond some reasonable number—which, granted, can be different for different circumstances—higher capacity is just an attempt to assuage insecurity. I don’t ever wanna get shot/killed for lack of shooting back, but that’s why God made spare mags.
#6. Size/mass/concealability. By the time I get to thinking about these factors, the interplay amongst them all becomes obvious and important itself. Size and capacity obviously are highly correlated, and though some like to argue that any gun can be adequately concealed for EDC purposes, I suspect that there are at least as many people who snort at that idea, recognizing that workplace attire, life habits, body habitus, and more affect concealability and the convenience thereof. Size & mass also affect shooting characteristics, obviously, and we jump back up to consideration of getting the job done when we think about using a subcompact for, say, that hog-hunting expedition I mentioned.
#7. Brand. Yes, to some small extent at least, brand matters to me, in various ways. Reputation (see ‘reliability’, and other characteristics above), country of origin (I have a modest disinclination to purchase guns made in, say, China, or [insert eye roll here] North Korea), responsible behavior of the company and its cohorts, directors, etc., and more all will affect, to some small degree, the purchase. Even emotion. I’ve got a thing for certain types of guns, and it’s not always rational, but it’s there, I like it, and that’s all I’ve got to say about it.
